The Golden Lion
by Hunting-Raven
Summary: One change. The simple addition of a friend to Naruto's life when he was 9, before anyone besides the Hokage noticed or supported him. With his family on the line, a lion is born. With but one goal, to protect his family. Being Hokage is a child's dream.
1. To Protect His Pride

Naruto, the 9 year old blonde ninja-in training, was up early this bright Saturday morning. He grinned as he hopped out of his cold shower, seeing as there was no hot water anyway. He only tossed his bright orange pants on before leaving his bathroom. He planned to head out to the training grounds today to visit Daichi-kun. The shrill sound of his tea pot signaled that his water was boiling, so he set out to prepare his instant ramen.

Daichi was a small stray cat, with golden fur and eyes. He first meet the small creature when he was 8, and Daichi was only a kitten. Well, technically he still was a kitten, cause he was so small still, but Naruto knew he'd grow to be strong. He had wanted so badly to take him in as a pet, but his apartment wouldn't allow it, not that that really allowed him anything but oh well. He'd be Hokage some day! Then Daichi would stay in the hokage's tower with him and get his own cool hat! Believe it! Naruto grinned to himself at the thought of his dream. Then for sure the Village would accept him! He'd get all the respect he'd ever wante- Naruto let his train of thought disperse when the timer went off. During his 3-minutes of waiting and thinking he'd gotten fully dressed. One instant cup of ramen and the rest of his almost-but-not-quit spoiled milk and the small boy ran out of his apartment, taking a comfortable stroll when he reached the streets. It was still relatively early for Naruto, at 6:48 am, but not early enough. A lot of the venders where out and about finishing up with the small details of prepping for the morning business, some people where even selling. He strolled along hands behind his head with a wide grin. They could glare all they wanted, they'd be looking at him with awe as soon as he became a ninja!

"_Meow."_

Naruto looked down, a tiny bit startled. He'd made it to the training ground with out even realizing it, and now he found himself looking deep into the eyes of a very smart, very small golden eyed cat. A small smile replaced his previous grin, and now he was actually smiling. Not giving that grin he slapped on for everyone else, but that smile he reserved for those close to his heart. So far only two people where ever graced with it. The Hokage, when he took him out eat that one time, Dango he remembers. Naruto wasn't very found of it so the Hokage promised to take him out for something different next time. The old man Hokage was the only person in the whole village who smiled fondly at him, and didn't treat him like scum. So he was gonna be just like Jiji and be Hokage himself one day! The other was Daichi, but in all honestly Daichi got to see the smile far more often. Naruto dropped down to his knee's and a hand went out to rub the kittens head, scratching him behind the ears well he was at it.

Purring gratefully Daichi rubbed his golden head into Naruto's hand. " Morning to you too Daichi-kun!" he whispered. Daichi-kun didn't really like it when he yelled, so he talked softly to the cat. " Where too today?" the blonde boy asked his friend with bright excited blue eyes. After he removed his hand.

Daichi narrowed his eyes at Naruto when he removed his hand, his tail flicking impatiently. His golden eyes looked upon the boy with a critical gaze. Blinking Naruto was stumped. " What is it Dauchi-ku-OH!" Naruto exclaimed in remembrance. Sheepishly he rubbed the back of his head. " Sorry bout that, I didn't forget tho!" he proclaimed in a whisper. A loud whisper, but still a whisper. Finishing into his back pocket for a moment, he removed a small wrapped up bundle, inside was a small fish, most likely a minnow. Naruto grinned with pride as he presented it to the cat, who immediately purred and snatched it up in it's teeth, consuming it.

" You better enjoy that Daichi-kun, I had to snatch it off a old man fishing yesterday. I put it in the fridge so it wouldn't go bad. Man he was upset at he, so he did what they all usually do. Swear and throw things at me. I got snagged by one nasty lure, but hey, I at least got a lure right? It wasn't any problem for a kick-ass ninja like me tho!" Naruto proclaimed loudly, forgetting himself for a moment.

Daichi flickered his tail again, and his ear twitched as he licked his chops. Getting up the small kitten nudged the small boys leg before turning around and bounding away. Naruto stood up, and followed behind like an eager child, which, technically he was.

This is what they usually found themselves doing whenever Naruto visited, they wandered for a while in the forest looking at things before the small cat found a sunny place and they relaxed there for a while. When Naruto inevitably got hungry eh left for the day, promising to return the next day with something fish like for his friend. Normally tho, they got in lot of sun-bathing time.

Which is where one could find Naruto a couple hours later. Daichi had chosen a rocky place by one of the small ponds of water. The worn posts and tree's a few yards away signaled this was a used training area for ninja. Naruto was always careful tho, and made sure to leave if a ninja come around. Today tho, he made a mistake, one that would cost him dearly.

Relaxing with his golden friend on his chest on top of the sun-bathed rock, Naruto made the mistake of falling asleep. He fell asleep near a used training field, on the wrong day at the wrong time. He never heard them coming from where he was sprawled out. Not to mention Daichi, who was used to ninja's being around, so the when the ninja came, he didn't bother waking Naruto up to move to a new spot.

What did eventually wake Naruto up, was the rough kick that was delivered to his side with a sickening crunch sound. Startled and in pain Naruto rolled over onto the ground, small sharp rocks pocking and daring to piece into his skin. Daichi had hoped off with a yowl of protest and a hiss, scrambling a few yard away, hackles raised in a defensive way, a snarling hiss coming from his up curled lips.

"What do you think your doing out here demon! To high a mighty to show your hideous face to the village anymore? You got to taint our training grounds instead!" came a harsh sneer as a second kick was delivered to the small boy. Naruto said nothing, he was used to it. It had gotten so much worse after he joined the academy. The normally loud obnoxious, defiant blonde said nothing in protest only tried to hide his face in his shirt as he curled into the fetal position.

"WELL? ANSWER ME DEMON-SCUM!" the man roared angrily as he savagely kicked the child in his back, his heel connecting with Naruto's spine. He had to hold his mouth tight to keep the blood from coming out of his mouth when his body shook with pain and he denied his reflexes of coughing. They always got happier and more mean when they saw his blood.

"_HIISS!" _came an angry sound. Naruto's eyes shot open as he saw a golden blur rushing the ninja. Despite himself he cried out in sorrow. " DAICHI! NO!" he said with fear for his friend. That was his second mistake.

The ninja who was beating on Naruto turned in question when the cat ran at him, ready to just kick the small thing away. However hearing the demon cry out in warning for the creature the man remembered that this cat had been previously sleeping on the child's chest. A glint appeared in his eyes. Quickly, he kicked the cat away, who tumbled on the hard ground. It seemed to struggle to get up, it's small body completely unready and unprotected for the kick.

" Daichi!" Naruto cried out, tears stinging his eyes. He started to get up, intending on going to his friend.

" No you don't! I may not be able to kill you but that doesn't mean I can't take everything from you!" the man laughed as he sent a chakra kick to the small boy, and the cracking of ribs filled the ear in a surprisingly large echo. Naruto found himself blacking out when his head connected savagely with a rock.

Naruto didn't think he was unconscious for long, because when he woke up the ninja was strolling away, looking proud. Fearful, he stayed down, watching the ninja leave. Only when Naruto was sure he was alone did he struggle up, eyes darting around to find his friend. His chest was heavy with pain, but Naruto always handled the pain well, he'd been dealing with it for so long after all. However, the pain that hit him when he saw his cat friend was like none he had ever felt before, causing his stomach to sink and his eyes to freely spill tears. "Daichi..." he whispered. "DAICHI!" he bellowed in a teary cry of sorrow as he scrambled over, tipping over his own feet a few times, his chest exploding with pain. He ignored it.

* * *

>Daichi was laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Beautiful golden fur tainted with red blood. There was large gash on the cats side, it was shallow but long and nasty looking. Dirt was already inside the wound, and judging from all the dirt clumped up on patched of sticky fur, he'd been kicked around on the ground a few times for good measure. Besides that one cut, there where dozens of smaller deeper cuts, that ninja must have taken his time and had fun with it. Salty tears fell onto the still breathing cats body, bending into the thick sticky blood that was still coming out. Dulled pained golden eyes turned to look at Naruto. Daichi seemed to open his mouth to meow at him, but only raspy breath came out. Naruto snapped out of his daze. He needed to get help! Tearing off his orange jacket, Naruto carefully picked up Daichi and rapped it loosely around him, before cradling the cat to his chest. He could <em>feel<em> his friend tremble in pain, which only cause Naruto to cry more. Holding tightly, but trying desperatelynot to hurt his friend anymore, Naruto ran towards the village.

" Help! Anyone please help!" Naruto cried, his eyes leaking tear after tear. He was standing in the middle of the street, holding a blooded jacket with a struggling to keep living cat in his arms. People openly sneered or laughed at his dismay.

" It's your own fault demon! Maybe this will teach you!" one quite vocal man shouted, as a rotting piece of fruit was thrown at his head. It connected. Laughed openly took place as other started to throw too. Naruto. Bend over Daichi protectively. " Please stop! Just help him and I promise never to prank again!" he sobbed.

" Why don't you just go die instead!"

" Demon!"

"Monster!"

"Devil-spawn!"

Seeing he was getting no help, Naruto ran towards his apartment, it was closer, and Daichi would be dead before he ever go to Jiji's tower. He ignored the spit that come from every angle landing on the ground in front of him by the hateful villagers.

" Don't worry Daichi-kun!" Naruto sobbed quietly as he ran. " I promise I'll save you, cause I'm going to be a ninja and I'll protect you! It's what Hokage's do!" he told his friend. Silent strained breathing was his only reply.

He kicked his door open when he arrived, the locks didn't work anyway, and kicked it shut again. There was a brief yelling from down stairs but he ignored it. The boy ran to his bathroom. As soon as he got there he realized he new nothing of first-aid. He never payed attention during that lesson, because he thought he was strong enough to prevent the injuries in the first place. He'd have to improvise. He set Daichi down briefly before dragging in his small coffee table, and placed Daichi down on that, after he had tossed a towel over it of course. After removing his jacket ad tossing it into the bathtub he felt a new rush of tears. His friend had obviously lost a lot of blood, lucky however the constant pressure he must have kept on it well he ran about helped stop the bleeding, the matted fur doing the rest as no more blood seemed to leave the golden cats body. Looking around rapidly Naruto went to work as fast as he could. He tried to think fast, he just had to save Daichi!

" Water! Warm water!" Naruto babbled to himself in panic. It's take time to boil the necessary water. He'd have to warm it up as much as possible at least. Rushing to his dirty kitchen Naruto snatched up his kettle. He hurriedly fulled it with maybe a cup or two worth of water, and poured some salt in. It boiled a little bit faster that way. Slamming it on the stove and pushing the burner to high Naruto moved on. The water could be used to clean his friend up.

" Bandages!" he mumbled to himself. He never really used them, his wounds always seemed to heal fast. Which is why the now dull pain in his chest was no bother to him, it probably hurt worse then he thought, but the fear for Daichi and the adrenaline took care of that factor for now. Remembering back however, Jiji had given him a small first aid kit when he was 6, just in case.

Now Naruto's apartment was somewhat small, consisting of a kitchen area, bed room, small living area, and a bathroom. Each room wasn't very big, but it's size fit him well. However the entire place was dirty. So Naruto stumbled around in the grim and thrown around trash and drove with purpose towards his bed room's tiny closet. Inside was the kit he so desperately needed right now.

His closet was just as cluttered as the rest of the place, dirty piles of his jumpsuit were thrown about, along with anything else he just tossed int here to get out of the way. Tears had been steadily running down his cheeks, soaking the front of his white blood stained shirt. Diving in, he pulled small piles of clothes and trash one after another, till he reached the bottom. There was a medium sized chest resting there. Throwing it open he found the few precious things he had. The first aid kit from Jiji, along with all the money Jiji sent as an allowance. He almost never used it, taking only enough to buy ramen. His clothes where already all baggy so he didn't even think about trying to get stores to sell him anything. He never had enough money anyway. Everything was so expensive. He always got 10,000 yen from Jiji for his monthly food bills, clothes bills ect. Cause Jiji payed for his apartment. He'd been getting that amount for almost 4 years. There was also some books, obviously for little kids, but they didn't interest him to actually read them now. He didn't know how to read until last year, which was rather sad as he'd been in the academy since he was 6. Grabbing the kit, he slammed the truck closed and scrambled back to the kitchen. Grabbing a bowl he rushed back to the bathroom, returning a moment later for the now lukewarm water. He couldn't wait for it to boil.

Returning to the bathroom Naruto set to work. Daichi's breathing was shallow and weak, but he was breathing. Taking a dry wash cloth from the cabinet above the sink he lightly dabbed one corner in the water. Gently, he washed the blood away from the wound area. He could feel the tensing of Daichi's body under neath him. He tried to be gentle. Once he got the dirt and blood cleaned away enough he opened the kit looking for the bandages.

The kit he opened surprised him, as it looked to be far more useful then he had previously thought. He found 3 small packages that looked like they could be for band aids, but said 'Disinfectant Wipes' on the wrapping. Ripping one open he wiped the biggest wound with it. Daichi hissed weakly and seemed to wince, as if it was burning. Naruto only assumed it was working. He used another for the other two wounds. Turning back to the kit he rummaged around and as he pulled out the bandages he noticed a small bag of some type of pills. He noticed the word 'Blood' at a glance and made a note of it.

Ripping open the bag of bandages Naruto removed the cloth rolls and pulled the end on one, and started. He'd remembered little bits and pieces of Iruka's lecture as he had drifted in and out of sleep that day, and the only part of the bandaging he had heard was 'wrap tightly-' and that was it. So that's what he did. Carefully, Naruto wrapped the bandages around the wounds. He had tried wrapping only the wounded area's but soon found they wouldn't stay, much less stay tight. So he wrapped them all the way around Daichi's body, tears blurring his vision a little bit every time his friend winced with the movement. Having done what he thought to be good enough of a job, he tore the rest of the roll off, and taking the loose end he pushed it under the tight wraps already on. It made a weak holder for the loose end but it had to do for now. Daichi's breathing was still shallow. Naruto sniffed dejectedly, thinking for sure he'd loose his best friend. Looking back at the pills however he felt a faint since of hope.

The small package contained 2 small round pills. It was labeled "BLOOD REPLENISHING PILL. BITE FOR BEST EFFECTS" Naruto brightened just a little bit. Snatching the bag he tore it open. In his hast he dropped both pills, only managing to find and pick up one. Wasting no time he went to Daichi and opened his mouth. Daichi had no strength to resist. The casing of the pill seemed hard, but a little digging with his nail and he felt a small crack open in the pill. He pushed it as far back in as he could with his finger. Daichi gagged and tried to spit it out but Naruto held his mouth shut. Daichi soon swallowed.

Removing his hand Naruto backed himself against the sink as he sat with his knee's pulled up. He was fully crying again. Shoving his head in his knee's to hide his face, Naruto cried weakly, body shaking as he sat on the floor in his dirty bathroom. He could only wait. He didn't want to leave Daichi to get Jiji, and he didn't even know if Jiji would help.

As he sat there on the floor, where he would end up sitting for hours in despair he thought deeply. He was suppose to be a ninja, and all those stories Jiji told him about ninja's involved saving people. He never said people would die! Or get hurt like this. They where going over the great ninja wars in the academy this month, but so far he just brushed it off. War. People DIED in wars! Shinobi fought the wars, so shinobi had to kill didn't they? However didn't they kill to protect the village and their families? The Hokage was suppose to protect everyone in the village, but Naruto couldn't even protect his best friend. If he couldn't do that, how could he protect the village as the Hokage? Naruto didn't know. He was dead-last in school, worst at everything. How could he be a ninja as he was now? How much better would he be in the 3 years he had left?

Naruto sniffled and lifted his head up, resting his chin on his knee's. He looked at Daichi, who seemed to be in a pained sleep. He narrowed his eyes thinking. He couldn't protect Daichi now seeing as he was so weak and useless. However he knew he wanted to get stronger to protect Daichi. Now the question was, did he want to get stronger to protect the village? Like the Hokage? Suddenly he stood up and used his arm to wipe his face off. Looking down at Daichi, Naruto spoke the words that would change his life forever.

" Daichi, I couldn't protect you today. I don't even know if I can protect you tomorrow, or if you'll still be with me to see tomorrow. I promise you tho, I'll get strong. If you pull through this, I promise I'll be strong enough to always protect you. I promise from now on, I will protect my family, because your all I have. Please Daichi, pull through. Cause if you die I'll be all alone. Ether way, I've decided right now I don't want to be Hokage. Everyone here hates me, they wouldn't help you no matter how much I begged. I don't want their respect! From now on I'm going to respect myself. I don't need them or their damn respect! I'll be strong to protect my family, myself, my friends, everyone who I love! I'll be the best damn shinobi ever. The. Best. Damn. Shinobi. Ever. I promise you Daichi, I'll do whatever it takes to protect my loved ones. So please, pull through this. Cause I need you. I love you Daichi, don't ever forget that. It's my fault your like this, so I'm going to do everything I can to amend that. So you live! Cause I want you to see me keep this damn promise. See if from beside me, not from up in heaven." Naruto said. He was trembling, his hands clenched tight, knuckles white. He wasn't shouting, but his voice was forceful and seemed to echo in the room. The air was heavy with his promise.

" I'll protect my family at all costs. That's my new nindo. I'll be damned if I ever break it!" He whispered. The air only seemed heavier. Daichi remained sleeping, his breathing seemed to b steadier now. Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't lose his friend after all. Naruto turned to leave the bathroom. He looked at the clock, it was only 5:30pm. Looking around, Naruto decided he had to move. It was time to see Jiji. First however, he had to change and eat.


	2. New Territory

Naruto was walking out of his apartment with purpose at 6pm sharp. Dressed only in a black shirt and his normal pants, Naruto wasted no time. Gone was that care free grin, replaced with a cold stern frown. In his hand was a plastic bag, which he picked up off the floor. Inside was all his savings. To be more accurate it was multiple plastic bags, so the multiple layers could support and better hide the money inside. It wasn't nearly as busy now as it was earlier when he was desperately trying to find help for Daichi., which had been quite a few hours ago, seeing as he couldn't have been out on the rocks past noon. Many of the civilian workers were home eating dinner with their families, and people inside the shops where of no concern to him.

His bag of savings was heavy. Ramen was cheap. Very cheap. He never ate all that much, seeing as he wanted to save as much as he could of his money. He'd find something to do with it. He already had a idea anyway. So, for the past 3 years he'd survived off ramen. Each year, he only had to spend a months worth of allowance to buy the stuff. Needless to say he ate a lot of ramen. He was beginning to dislike the stuff, but he wasn't petty enough to say no to a meal, even if it had been the same meal for 3, nearing on 4 years.

His walk was quiet, and for that the blonde was grateful. He'd had plenty on time on his 20 minute walk to the tower, and a good half hour before that to decide on a rough course of action. One thing he knew tho, was hat he couldn't stay where he was. Daichi wasn't ever going to be a stray again if he pulled through. Pushing open the doors, Naruto entered the building. The guards paid him no notice. He quickened his pace. Jiji's office was on the top floor, which meant a lot of stairs for him. His chest was still pained, not as bad as before, it was dull now. Like an aching bruise. So, with his own pain in mind Naruto didn't run up all those stairs, but he instead kept a brisk pace. He was in the waiting area in 6 minutes. He walked right in, the secretary was used to his presence. He used to be brought in a lot when he was younger for the pranks he pulled. Which was how he initially meet Jiji when he was 5. Jiji didn't have much time to leave work to do things with him, but he was always so kind and understanding when Naruto came to visit. He couldn't wait to go out to at with him again.

Jiji was sitting a his desk like he always was, in that awesome hat of his, doing paper work. His pipe in his mouth like usual. Looking up, the Hokage looked surprised to see Naruto closing the doors with a heavy looking plastic bag and serious face. He smiled anyway. " Why hello Naruto, I'm surprised you came at this hour of the day. What can I do for you hm?" he asked smiling, happy to push aside his work. He was half expecting Naruto to say something about being Hokage, so the boys next words truly surprised him.

Naruto wasted no time getting to his point. " Jiji, something happened today." he sounded like he came to a decision.

" Go on, tell me about it." Sarutobi prompted with a smile.

" I went to visit Daichi today like usual." Naruto began. He paused, as if not sure how to explain. The Hokage was patient. He knew of the stray cat Naruto had taken a liking too. Personally, he had hoped the boy would like frogs or toads, like his father. The Hokage's eyes where shadowed with grief for but a moment. Naruto continued.

" We were off by one of the training fields, one with a pond and a lot of rocks by it. We fell asleep on one of those rocks. I was attacked Jiji." Naruto said bluntly. The Hokage looked shocked, furious, scared, sad.

" What?" the old man exclaimed.

" I was attacked by a Konoha ninja. I don't know who, I don't even clearly remember his face Jiji! But the point is I was attacked. He didn't do anything to me really, just a lot of kicks and yelling. But Daichi is hurt Jiji, he cut him up! I ran back and tried to find help. I was in the middle of the damn street and no one came! They insulted me, spit on me, declared it was my fault!" Naruto said in one giant burst, tears on the edge of falling again. He kept them back.

The Hokage was angry. Damn this village! Could they not see past their own hate? He would need to send a team to investigate the training grounds. Heads would roll for this. Now he had to comfort Naruto. He started around his desk towards the boy. Who was trembling slightly. "Naruto-" the blonde cut him off.

" I did everything I could Jiji, home was closer, and he might have died on the way here. I took him home and did everything I could. I used that first aid kit you gave me, even gave him one of those blood pills in it." Sarutobi blinked. He was honestly surprised, it had been a genin's first aid kit, but for it to have blood replenishing pills? Then again that was a good thing.

" I don't know if he'll make it Jiji." Naruto said, he sounded as if he couldn't breath.

" Naruto, I'll head back with you and see what I can do alright?" the old man said.

"No."

The Hokage blinked. " What?"

Naruto looked up at his Jiji. " I said no Jiji, not yet. I still need to talk." He was given a nod of acknowledgment.

Naruto thought for a moment, before speaking again.

" I'm not taking being a ninja seriously Jiji. It's my fault that Daichi is like he is. All my fault. I could have known what to do, instead of taking bits of pieces of information and what I thought could work. I should have payed attention and I should have taken all this seriously. All you've ever told me about ninja are the stories of hero's saving villages and princesses. That's not all it is about is it? Iruka-sensei is talking about wars right now. Shinobi fight wars. People die in wars. I'll have to kill one day wont I?" It was a rhetorical question. Naruto looked dead ahead into the old Hokage's eyes.

" This village hates me Jiji, and don't deny it. I don't know why, I might never know why. But I know they do! So I'm done!" Sarutobi looked horrified for a moment, the word 'WHAT?' clear on his face. Tho it was a bit more subtle.

" I'm done being a shinobi for them! I wont leave Konoha Jiji, I may hate it but I wont leave. Because your here. Your part of my family. You and Daichi. You two are all I have Jiji, I don't want to loose that. Because Jiji, I'll protect my family at all costs. That's my new nindo Jiji. I want to be strong, this time for me, for you, for Daichi. I never want anyone in my family hurt again. That's my only goal. I'm sorry Jiji but I can't become Hokage anymore." Naruto said. His voice a pleading whisper now. Asking for his Jiji to understand him, and to accept him like this.

Naruto had to hold himself back from crying when the old man hugged him.

" Oh Naruto, I"m so sorry. I promise I'll do everything I can to help you, but I can't train you or anything like that. It wouldn't be fair to all the others students. Are you sure you want to give up your dream?" he asked.

Naruto nodded. " I want to protect my family, and as it stands my family is you and a cat. Thanks for understanding Jiji." The old man nodded.

" Whats with the bag Naruto?" he asked, seeing as he hadn't dropped it once since he came.

Naruto dumped the bag out, much to Sarutobi's surprise, releasing a large among of cash. "Where did you get this Naruto?" the old man asked in wonder.

" I've saved it. I know it's not much, but because everything costs so much I've saved almost everything. I only need to buy ramen once a month. It's so cheap I can feed myself for an entire year if I spend an entire months allowance. I want you to help me count it before I ask my next question."

It wasn't long before the old man had it all counted, having helped Naruto with this small task he addressed an issue on him mind. " Naruto, this happens to be a lot of money. You have 430,000 yen. I'm afraid you've been mislead and lied to about the prices in the stores. I'll go talk to the shop owners about this." Once more Naruto, to Sarutobi's surprise, said no.

" I want to overcome them on my own Jiji. If I can't protect myself how can I protect my family? Let them hate me Jiji, see if I care. Listen, I was hoping, do you thing it's possible if this money could be put towards a home? Nothing rally big, something small would work fine, it doesn't even have to be in good condition. I just want it away from the hustle of the village, with some land so I can train myself. Its time I grow up Jiji. Please, I need your help if I'm ever going to do this." Naruto said. The look in his azure eyes, the sadness and hardship, the determination, the shear desire to prove himself, _too himself_. The Hokage couldn't say no.

" Alright Naruto, come on. We'll do this now, then I'll come with you to check on Daichi-kun, alright?" the old man said. Naruto never looked so genuinely happy.

Together, the old man and Naruto looked over property listings of Konoha. In his price range there weren't many options. However, Naruto found just what he wanted.

The house was relatively small compared to most houses. But it was bigger then his current apartment. A bedroom, bath, kitchen and dining, living room, and a room he could use for a study. It came with about two acres of land. A decent size. Really, for Naruto's small budget it was well priced, however it was clear that the house needed repair. It needed to be cleaned, the plumbing and electricity needed work. The old man who had owned it died a few years back, and after all his personal things like clothes and such were removed, they decided to leave some of the furnishings and items behind. It was suppose to be a very nice house besides all that tho. However the man who had own it committed murder, and a few bodies had been recovered from the ground. This was probably was it was so cheap even with the needed repairs. Naruto had agreed the moment he saw the location however. It was about a mile away from the main part of Konoha, a small dirt road lead to the little house. One major perk for Naruto however, was the fact that it had an old stone wall surrounding the entire area. He loved it and wanted to move in right away.

" Alright now Naruto, the price for this home, which luckily you have to pay straight to me, is 360,000 yen. Which means for whatever work you need to do on it you only have 70,000 yen. I'll pay the utilities and for those to be repaired, seeing as your still a ward of the village. When you become a genin it will be your job tho, seeing as you'll be a legal adult and you're no longer getting the allowances. Do you understand Naruto?" he asked.

Naruto nodded. " I wont really need to pack anything, besides a few of these jumpsuits and my remaining ramen. I'm going to wait to do any work on the place until after school is over. I can survive until then, it's only two weeks. So the house is mine now?" Naruto asked. Sarutobi nodded, he'd already taken the payment.

" Yes, but you and Daichi stay in your apartment for tonight, I'll come over tomorrow at 8am to pick you up and take you to your new house. Now come on, lets go check on Daichi." Sarutobi said.

Naruto nodded eagerly. He'd been here for maybe an hour and a half. He needed to get back to Daichi. Naruto would be lying if he didn't say he had been dead worried this entire time, eager to get back to his best friend. He needed to make sure Daichi was still alive. He _had _too.

The trip back with Jiji seemed to take forever to Naruto. The overhanging feeling of suspense and dread of what might have happened in his absence. It was a weight on his shoulders that he couldn't shake. Returning home, Naruto pushed his door open with force and went immediately to the bath room.

_What if he was dead?_

_What if he had been too late?_

_He took too long._

_It would be all his fault._

_He would break his promise the day he made it._

_He'd loose his BEST FRIEND!_

All of these thoughts flooded through him like a wave of despair, and the horror of what could be behind the door terrified him. Naruto pushed open the door, and nearly cried with relief. He could see Daichi's chest rising and falling, breathing in a slow, but steady pace. He sounded better then before. Walking out of the room Naruto pointed Jiji towards his golden friend, as he moved off into his home, to gather everything he would take with him tomorrow. His smile of relief never left his face.

When Sarutobi saw the state of the young boys apartment he was beyond furious. At himself. HOW could he have let any of this happen? If only he hadn't let the council have so much control, if only he took the time to visit Naruto himself. None of this would have happened.

It wasn't the mess of the apartment that was upsetting the old man. No doubt that was mostly Naruto's fault. He could tell at a glance the plain state of disrepair the apartment was in. The one light above him was dim, ether going out or not getting enough power. The stove was obviously not in good shape, and when he checked the water he couldn't find a trace of heat. Heads were going to roll. Not to mention the villages treatment of him. He was going to find that shinobi who attacked Naruto and make a good example of him for his other ninja. He couldn't afford to be the nice old man Hokage anymore. Once Naruto pointed to where he needed to be, the old man entered to see the year-old cat-kitten on the coffee table that was obviously out of place in the small room.

Looking over Naruto's bandaging job, it was obvious he needed to learn something more efficient. Instead of a balanced over lapping bandage job, he found a crisscrossed mess. Yes it was nice and tight, not overly so as to choke the cat, but the loose end had come out from wherever it had been stored. Sighing, Sarutobi found the kit Naruto had used and tended to the small creature. He'd re-bandage it himself. Well Sarutobi was known as the Professor, he was far better at manually treating something with bandages then with a healing jutsu. How his student Tsunade became a famous medical ninja was beyond him. Besides, domestic animals like cats, who weren't summons, didn't handle chakra in their systems all that well. It would have to be an old fashioned job.

Daichi seemed to lazily open an eye, and he seemed to glare for a moment with said eye. As if saying _'I know you lie to him! Your family and yet you lie!'_. He wouldn't lie for too much longer, Sarutobi thought. Naruto would find out of his burden when he became a genin. Ignoring the small cats look, he tended to the small creature.

The wounds weren't terribly bad. About four small deep ones, but not life threatening. The long shallow one was a problem tho. It's take time to heal due to it's length. Either way he needed to stitch them all up. Finding everything he needed, the old man set out to work. Naruto probably over looked the needle and string when he was tending to Daichi, and that was a good thing for now.

Naruto however, had done a decent job for a 9 year old child. Naruto had indeed saved this cats life, and giving it the blood pill probably stopped it from dying from blood loss. The Hokage smiled. It seemed Naruto was indeed doing everything he could to protect his family. Only time would tell about just how much Naruto would change.

**The Next Day**

Naruto insisted on being the one to carry Daichi on their early morning walk to his new home. Jiji had told him not to worry about cleaning the place, so it was really easy for Naruto to get everything ready to leave. He'd pulled that chest out and opened it up. The bag with the rest of his money went in, and all the kiddy books came out. What was left of his first aid kit was replaced inside as well. After rummaging through his clothes he pulled out all he wanted to use. A couple shirts, black and white where his only colors. Boxers, and some of his orange pants seeing as he didn't have anything else. Only two of his jackets went into the chest. All his good towels and the few random items in his bathroom all were packed, along with his shampoo's, conditioners, and bars of soap.

Naruto also decided to take some stuff from the pranking things he head under his bed. Rope, glue, some wire and a couple water balloons all went into the chest before it was closed. After he was all ready and Jiji arrived, he gave his things to the old man, who was still stronger then he, and went to fetch his friend.

Naruto held onto Daichi carefully. Mindful of his stitches. Still, he was cradled close and so far the small cat hadn't protested all that much aside from the picking up. So far, as they walked nothing dared to bother them.

It was a comfortable walk through the village, he was spared no glace or glare as long as the Hokage was with him. The air was thick with things unsaid but Naruto was never so happy to be walking out and about. It only got better when they got onto the quiet dirt path.

" Hey Jiji, how big is Konoha?" Naruto asked as he looked around at the scenery. " I mean, we're walking a mile out into woods and we haven't even left the village walls." he said as if thinking aloud.

Sarutobi chuckled. " Konoha is very big Naruto, because who knows what will happen in the future. So it the village walls where placed so on one half is the village itself along with all the training grounds, and the other half is a more quiet forest, which we can use should we ever need to expand." the man said. " So tell me Naruto, just how are you going to start getting strong? Hm?" he smiled with a sparkle in his old eyes.

Naruto turned his own azure eyes to look at his Jiji, before turning back to the road. " I suppose I'll sneak into the library after hours to find some scrolls on first aid, and I'll study that for a while, at least until after school." he said.

" Now Naruto, sneaking in at night isn't what the libraries for. But let me guess, they don't let you in and you want to deal with it on your own?" the Hokage said. Naruto nodded.

" How can you see good in this village Jiji,if they hate me with such passion? I mean, if this is all for those pranks I only did it in retaliation. I wanted attention I guess, one way or another. Other kids pulls pranks, and yet their not hated like me. Why Jiji? Why?" Naruto asked the much older man. His shoulders trembled slightly. However Naruto kept his gaze focusing dead ahead.

" I'm afraid I can't tell you yet Naruto" the Hokage began. Naruto's head snapped back to look at him in disbelief. " One day, when you older. When you officially become a genin I'll tell you. However I ask you not to try and find out on your own. This is something I need to tell you, not anyone else and not from a scroll and simple reasoning. Promise me this Naruto." his voice was stern and left no room for argument.

" Alright Jiji, I promise."

They walked in silence.

When they arrived, Naruto took the time that he had till they reached the gate itself to look over the outside of the wall. It didn't look smooth or even like the brick looking stones. It was actual stones stacked on top of each other. Deep gray in color. The green moss and vines that crawled all along the wall stood out, but it was all very pretty. The walls weren't all that high. 6 or 7 feet at the most. Compared to his 4ft 6in it was tall tho. He could see his home over the top of the wall. The gate itself seemed to be placed snugly between the opening between the walls. It was wooden, and looked rickety. There was no stone above it to act like a frame, and Naruto liked it like that.

When old Jiji pushed open the gate Naruto was the first to walk through. The house was old. It was build right in the corner next to where they entered, the door to go in facing the east. He stopped to look at everything in his view. He could see the entire property from where he stood. In the front east corner, where his house was facing, was a small pond that looked like it had some fish inside. A few bushes separated the water from the wall on the thin strip of grass. North of where he stood however was a clearing, which seemed to make up a lot of the area he had. Behind that was a good number of tree's, not heavily grouped together, but spread out so you could easily see the wall behind them. He looked back to the house.

Whoever built it must not have been from Konoha, as it didn't look like the houses around here. The wood looked like it was a red gold in the morning sun, as if the builder treated the light wood as he built. A small porch with stairs lead up to the door, a small fence lined the porch, and a few beams lifted from the porch to support the roof that covered it in shade. The roof itself looked like mahogany in color, and obviously needed work. Patches of roof looked like it was coming off, and like weather had taken a good toll. Speaking of weather, the wood that was used must have been coated to make it water proof, to stand up to the weather. It seemed like the most logical thing.

It wasn't big, and only one story. Bracing himself, Naruto turned and entered. Jiji must have already went inside ahead of him.

The color of the walls where the same as outside, but the floor seemed to be deeper in color. It all seemed dull tho, and covered with dust. The lights all flickered pathetically. He seemed to have entered into the kitchen area. The counters where covered in grim and a few bugs seemed to be running in circles on the dark marble counters. There was an old stove which seemed out of place in the building. There was no fridge, it looked like the previous one had been torn from the wall. All the cabinet doors seemed to be in rough shape, some hanging on only a hinge and will power. There was no table in the other half of the room, where he assumed the dining area would be. The floor seemed to be scuffed from previous moving of chairs. Naruto moved forward again and deeper into the house. Daichi's eyes were open and looking about as well.

The living area looked a bit worse then the rest of the place. Scuffs on the floor from furniture. Speaking of furniture there was simply a large coffee table, old wooden lounge chair, a fire place but that was part of the house, a deep red rug laid on the floor under the chair and table in front of the fire place.

Daichi was carefully laid out on the table when Jiji came in from a different area of the house. Naruto moved on down the hall. Immediately to his left was the bathroom. Poking his head in he noticed it was a decent size, just like his old one. A shower, toilet, sink, and what looked to be a large closet. There was plenty of room to move around so Naruto went in to check the closet. Inside he found an old rusty washing machine and dryer, along with a few shelves for storing. He closed the closet. The shower had soap scum everywhere, and it looked to be stained in rusty brown in a few places. The shower head was rusting and looked like it needed to be replaced. The toilet looked like it belonged in a public bathroom or something, small and stained heavily, Naruto was not looking forward to using it. The mirror above the sink was fogged up with grim and the sink itself resembled the shower. Naruto moved on.

Next was the study, which was a small room that looked in relatively good condition. A few bookcases lined the walls, but the shelves seemed to be falling apart on those. A small desk and stool in the corner of the room was the only other thing. Next was the bed room.

There he found an old bed, obviously designed for one person. No sheets. Besides a closet, where Naruto discovered Jiji had put his chest, there was nothing special about the room. Except maybe the window right above the head of the bed, casting rays of sun onto it. Looking into his new closet, Naruto saw something that peeked his interest. Snatching it up with the eager look in his eyes he went to find Jiji.

" Hey Jiji! Whats this?" Naruto asked as he came back into the living room where the old man was scratching Daichi behind the ear. The old man in question turned around to look at what Naruto had in his hands. It looked like a small guitar, made of richly colored wood. It was clear to see where Naruto had touched it from all the dust on the thing. " I believe that's a ukulele Naruto. It's an instrument, like of like a guitar but it makes a higher sound." he explained.

" Awesome! I want to learn to play it!" Naruto declared, once more as loud and eager as he'd always been. He proclaimed it like he used to about being hokage.

" There might be something in the library. Now, I've got to go back to the tower. I've left the keys on the kitchen counter. I'll send some people over tomorrow to fix the water and electricity. I'll also have some new things brought over and exchanged. By tomorrow, everything that I can do to help fix up this place will be done, most likely after you get home. Make sure to leave early so you can get to school on time. As for Daichi I'll have some things sent over to help you take care of him. Good bye Naruto." the man said as he left.

For the rest of that day, Naruto sat in that old chair in front of where Daichi lay, petting him gently. This would be only the beginning. With that thought in mind Naruto couldn't stop smiling. Daichi must have thought so too because he never stopped purring until he fell back asleep.


	3. The Sun and Shadow

True to Jiji's words, the next day when Naruto got back things where different. The stove was replaced, along with the shower head, sink in both the bathroom and kitchen, toilet, washing and drying machines. There was a couple boxes and bags awaiting him too. Inside he had found a few dishes, 3 bowls, plates, cups, and some forks and knifes, along with a spoon and chopsticks. Not to mention one small skillet, pan for the oven, pot, and a new tea-kettle. His new fridge had a good amount in it. A large bottle of whole milk, fresh he might add, some eggs, butter, a plastic wrapped chunk of meat, some lettuce, tomatoes, a carton of fresh strawberries, and a couple gutted and skinned fish in plastic. On the counter was a loaf of bread, a few potatoes, and a bag of rice and a note next to about 8 cans of mushy cat food. Picking up the note Naruto read it, seeing it was from Jiji.

_Naruto,_

_I took the liberty of having a team pick up some groceries and a few utensils for you. I also had them pick some clothes up in your size. I had them use your next months allowance to pay for everything besides what I said I'd take care of. Fixing and furnishing anything else is now your job, I know you can do it. Here's some cat foot for Daichi, just put some on your finger and let him lick it off for now, however don't feed him a whole can, take it easy until he's stronger and can eat on his own. Also, try cutting up one of the potatoes and planting the chunks in a garden. On your bed is a few sheets, a scroll on your ukelele, and a small care kit for it. There's another first aid kit in your bathroom. Take care and visit me anytime._

_Love,_

_Hokage-jiji_

Naruto did plant those potatoes later that day.

**-Page Break-**

_1 Year 2 months Later_

Sleeping peacefully in a small bed, was a 10 year old blonde boy. His hair was long and spiky, it obviously hadn't been cut in a long time. On his chest, was a slender and small golden cat. Both seemed content there they were. The cat, had a small scar running along it's side, which could be seen if someone payed attention through it's short silky fur.

The sun wasn't even up when the boy groaned sleepily, walking up the cat on his chest. Getting up and stretching, the cat jumped down and moved away, leaving the walking boy on his own. Getting up slowly, Naruto yawned as he rubbed his eyes.

" Morning to you too Daichi-kun." he muttered as he tossed the covers off himself. The boy appeared to be sleeping in nothing but some black cloth sleep pants. His spiky blonde hair fell down to his shoulders. Picking himself up, the boy tossed the covers back down, leaving it 'made'. His room didn't have much in it besides his bed. His closest was filled with his clothes, and that chest of his, but besides that there was nothing of interest. Looking at the clock Naruto nodded. Over the past year he'd been walking himself up early, until it was natural for him. The clock proclaimed in bright red letters 4:45. Time to get started.

Reaching over, he snatched up a robe that was tossed on a hook on his closet door. It was gray in color. He left the room.

Naruto walked down the hall way of his home towards the kitchen. He'd been saving every cent he could to pay for everything in his home. He had learned how to deceive the shop owners, but he now had another option which he liked using. He'd send the money back to Jiji when he had enough and a list of what he'd needed. For the past year, he'd been having genin teams do his shopping and delivering his things to his door step, not once letting them see who he was. Giving the missions under a fake name. He'd been flabbergasted when he first learned about the D-ranks genin had to preform, but he defiantly took advantage of it, only having to pay a bit extra as payment. By now, his home was furnished simply and to his liking. When he'd been saving for all of this he'd gone back to eating ramen, for a while so he could save more. However now he one more had normal food in his fridge.

" Hey Daichi." Naruto greeted as he moved into his kitchen.

"Meow." Daichi replied. He always seemed to know what Naruto was saying. The golden cat was sitting contently on the counter, waiting for him. Looking as regal and proud as a lion. Lions, Naruto loved them, because of how powerful they seemed and how they reminded him of Daichi. Heck he'd grown his hair out like a mane, proud of his own golden locks. He'd first found the lions when he went sneaked into the library that first time, during that first summer since he'd grown up.

_*Flash Back_

_9 year old Naruto dropped down into the library around midnight. School had just let out for the summer that day, and Naruto planned on starting his own training. Seeing as the school hated him anyway he didn't bother to really try in those last two weeks. He listened yes, but they didn't need to know that. They would be starting jutsu next year, so he planned to get his own head start._

_Creeping through the dark library, azure eyes flickered about. He had pretty good senses, if he said so himself. He could see pretty well in the dark, as long as there was some type of light. Which meant the few dim lights randomly on around the library was more then enough. Not to mention the moon light from the window he had come in. _

_Moving through the library he looked for scrolls and books on justu theory. He'd decided to focus on that seeing as he couldn't teach himself taijutsu. _

_Picking up a book as soon as he saw the word jutsu, he opened it and scanned the first page. It was titled 'Jutsu: What makes it work?', reading over the chapter index he noticed a few other words he decided to look into. Chakra and hand seals. Moving about, he soon found himself with at least 3 scrolls on chakra, a book and a scroll on hand seals. He started to leave. However, his eyes noticed something else, another book laying on it's side, a bit of dust on it. Peering over, he snatched it up. The words 'Fuuinjutsu: Sealing Theroy and Practice' deciding to take the book with him, he realized that there could be a lot more he could learn then just jutsu on his own. Putting all his books and scrolls down he moved out. It took an hour before he had a nice collection of books all put into plastic bags taken from behind the librarians station. He must have taken dozens. All focusing on sealing, the basics of being a ninja, ninja's from before, types of ninja, gaining control of ones self, and all sorts of things like that. Now one could find him sitting on a table looking at a book of animal he picked up for fun. He was captivated by one picture, and one name. The Lion. A golden warrior, the male lion who protected his pride, even tho the females did all the work of hunting. The creature looked like a really big Daichi. He wanted to know more. Thus began his fascination with the creatures. He took every book on lions he could, and even one on lions in the ninja world. Unknown to him, he was on his way to making a name of his own, like so many great ninja's before him._

_Unknown to the library, Naruto wasn't planning on returning his books._

_*Flash Back End_

He had a one sided conversation with Daichi about all his books the next morning after that day. He had decided to work solely with his chakra and jutsu theory and hand seals that summer, well almost solely. He spent a lot of time working out, but that could be a form of training his chakra since a big part of chakra came from the body and being fit. He'd continued with it through out the next year. However, he was still dead last at the academy. He had tried to be a good student, but the teachers wouldn't have it, so Naruto decided he wouldn't bother. He often pretended to sleep during lectures, or he studied other things during the day. He wasn't very good at target practice still, but he didn't mind. Throwing things wasn't his style anyway. He liked the justu part however, tho he purposely messed up or goofed off sometimes. He'd gotten the Kawarimi and Henge jutsu down pat, however he couldn't for the life of him do the clone jutsu. However he had other things to work on so he never payed it any mind.

Naruto was eager for the day to go about, as he effortlessly went about him morning, putting water on the stove for tea, taking his shower, now he found himself in front of his closet, hair wet and eyes darting about to pick out his day's clothes. Clothes shopping was the only thing he himself did, under a henge of course. Reaching in he grabbed some tan cargo pants and a white tank top. A button up red plaid shirt was thrown over his shoulders to be put on later.

Returning to the bathroom with his clothes Naruto got dressed and fished out a pony-tail for his hair. He always wore it in a low ponytail, only leaving some spiky bangs free and some hair to frame his face. Now with his hair its pony tail he tossed on his plaid shirt, leaving it open and returned to the kitchen where Daichi was finishing eating his own meal when Naruto set out before his shower. It was already 5am.

" What do you think Daichi, I've got two school years left. What to work on. I'm thinking about looking over those sealing books again, and actually study them this time." Naruto commented as he opened his fridge and pulled out some eggs and left over rice. He snatched up a couple pieces of bacon from a plate along with his carton of strawberries and some butter. Setting them all out he started on his breakfast as normal.

Daichi purred warmly and rubbed himself against Naruto's legs. " Meow~" he seemed to purr out.

Naruto grinned happily. " I thought it was a good idea too. I think I'll head in early today and set up a prank. I'll have to make it more elaborate then last years good-bye prank. I don't think I'll have the trip wires by the teachers this time tho. I'm thinking some random desk." he babbled as he cut up his strawberries and beat his eggs well waiting for the skillet to heat up.

Naruto had been reading a book on ninja's last year when he found a common link between a lot of aspects of ninja's. Deception. Traps. Evasion. Being sneaky in general. He recalled now, that when he was smaller pranks he pulled showed off these aspects of being a ninja rather well, so he took it up again. He had also decided that if the village wanted to see him as a loud, annoying, failure, then that's what he'd give them. He' made himself the dead-last the previous year on purpose, which he would also do this year. Next year tho, he'd do average.

The sizzling of his bacon and eggs was a wonderful sound to Naruto's ears as he thought and worked. His mind already planning his prank. He had a lot of work to do this year. Daichi just kept purring.

**-Break-**

3 months into the school year and Naruto was bored. All this theory of what could happen and history got Naruto annoyed. So he spent most of his time reading his seal books. They intrigued him. Today, a friday Naruto noted, he was sitting in back next to the sleeping Nara boy ignoring Iruka's lecture as he read his little book. Naruto got along pretty well with the Nara boy, he was smart, he just didn't try. He was quiet and never once insulted him, and proved good conversation when he was awake enough to talk. So Naruto often sat in the back, and was joined by Shikamaru, and Choji by default.

_Well making a sealing seal is easy, the aspects behind it is far more complicated. Each symbol in sealing is related in some way to the hand-signs commonly used by ninja. Each hand sign has a single symbol to represent it, and those symbols have hundreds of much smaller symbols related to some small aspect of the original symbol and in turn the hand-sign it was based off of. The best fuuinjustu users have extensive knowledge of justu hand-signs. The possibilities of fuuinjutsu are limited only to the creators imagination and knowledge. In theory, the same can be said for jutsu, however well both are dangerous the sub-symbols used in the arts of sealing make it easier to be able to predict the result, there-for making the creation of seals easier then creating a jutsu if one has the proper knowledge. _

_Whirlpool country is very well known for the clan residing there, who are known to be some of the best fuuinjutsu users in the world. After it's destruction, the clan became less well known through-out the world. Perhaps one of the more commonly known seal masters to date is the Yondaime Hokage-_

"UZUMAKI! NARA! DETENTION AFTER CLASS!" Iruka-sensei shouted angrily when he noticed the two were not paying attention. Naruto looked up from his book frowning at his teacher annoyed, from the corner of his eyes he saw Shikamaru wake up groggily, also annoyed. Closing his book, Naruto quietly slipped it into his pocket as he stood up 'angrily'.

" No fair Iruka-sensei! Your lectures are so boring! Why can't we do anything fun huh? Like learn a new jutsu?" Naruto yelled out. He heard groans of annoyance from his class-mates.

" Why should you be allowed to learn anything if you don't pay attention!" the scarred chunin yelled back with his 'Big Head' jutsu.

" I pay attention!" Naruto shouted back. Sniggers and insults under the breath entered his ears.

" Then how does the henge work in theory?" Mizuki-sensei, Iruka's helper asked Naruto with a sneer.

_The dog seal provides a firm foundation of chakra. Boar makes the chakra solid. Ram provides the force needed for the solid chakra to take shape and be seen. Constant chakra flow into the jutsu is necessary as well as a strong mind to hold the form taken. Also in theory, if the users mind is under stress the henge can be broken. Simple if you think about it. _Naruto immediately thought to himself." Easy! We just toss our hands together and boom! We can look like anyone!" Naruto proclaimed loudly with a grin. However he pouted when everyone in the room, except the angry teachers, laughed at his expense. Shikamaru snorted but his eyes looked as if he was thinking deeply, but Choji tried to stifle a laugh well he shoved more chips in his mouth.

" It's a shame you already have detention Uzumaki. Now shut up and sit down!" Iruka growled out before moving on with his lecture. " By creating a layer of chakra over ourselves using the hand-signs and keeping a strong mind the henge-" Naruto stopped listening. His book was far more intresting.

_-who became famous as 'Konoha's Yellow Flash' due to his signature jutsu the Hiraishin. By using his own seals he threw special kunai with these seals attached to transport himself at high speed to where the kunai landed. He arrived at the location with a yellow flash, thus his name..._

**-Break-**

" Hey Naruto." Shikamaru drawled lazily as they left the academy building later that day.

" What?" Naruto asked his companion.

" What is the theory behind the henge jutsu." he said casually.

Naruto replied before he remembered about his normal act, even the duller version he often used around the lazy boy. So he repeated what he thought earlier to the boy without even blinking an eye.

"The dog seal provides a firm foundation of chakra. Boar makes the chakra solid. Ram provides the force needed for the solid chakra to take shape and be seen. Constant chakra flow into the jutsu is necessary as well as a strong mind to hold the form taken. Also in theory, if the users mind is under stress the henge can be broken. Simple if you think about it and have even the most basic of jutsu theory knowledge." the blonde told the blacked haired boy. He didn't even realized what he really said till Shikamaru chuckled.

" I knew you where smarted then you let on, you troublesome blonde." he said. Naruto cringed for a moment, now that his mask was broken.

"Yeah...it's just a show for all of them. Deception is a ninja's greatest tool you know." he said. " Is that why you never do anything?" he asked.

Shikamaru signed. " Nah, it's just to troublesome. However next time my mom decides to bother me about it I'm telling her that. Hey, do you want to come over for dinner?" Shikamaru asked on impulse. The boy had his hands shoved into his pockets as he walked.

Naruto thought about it for a moment. " I don't really see why not. Daichi might get upset with me tho unless I get him something in return." he commented to the boy next to them as they walked. Shikamaru's eyebrow raised.

" Daichi?" he echoed.

Naruto looked over with a sheepish grin. " Heh, Daichi's my cat." He got an amused snort in return for his answer.

**-Break-**

Naruto followed behind the lazy Nara silently as they arrived at his house_._ They had made casual small talk well walking back. Shikamaru seemed interested in his own personal training, more so then anything else.

" _So.." Shikamru drawled. " You've been secretly training yourself in what the academy skips over? Interesting." the male Nara said thoughtfully. _

_Naruto nodded. " You should come over and join me some time." he suggested offhandedly. He didn't notice Shikamaru's thoughtful and slightly devious smirk. " Yeah..I think I will."_

Walking up the path Shikamaru opened the door with one hand. " So troublesome. I'm home, got detention, brought friend." he said simply the moment he walked in. It was a good thing too, seeing as his mom was in view and looked ready to rip him a new one. She blinked slowly for a moment. " Oh..." Noticing Naruto, her eyes flashed with unseen recognition. " OH! You must be Shikamaru's friend! Good thing I made extra tonight! Come in come in!" she said excitedly.

" Darn women and her sixth sense.." Shikamaru whispered as he dipped his head down and looked away annoyed at his own mothers eagerness. " So troublesome." he groaned. " We'll be outside till diner mom." He interrupted, grabbing Naruto's shoulder and pushing him ahead of him. " Come on you troublesome blonde, before she gets even more annoying." he grunted out. Naruto snickered.

" From her personality I'm guessing your dad's whipped." Naruto commented.

" Yep." was Shika's short reply.

"Where too?"

"We have some chairs on the back-porch."

"What we gonna do?"

"Cloud-watch."

"Seriously?"

"Yep." They did in fact end up watching clouds for the next hour. Shikamaru surprisingly asked a lot about Naruto's training, which Naruto answered, not really seeing a point not to tell his new friend. Shikamaru had never given him a reason not to trust him before. In fact, Naruto probably trusted the lazy 11 year old more then anyone else in his class. Which wasn't saying much but was still saying a lot. For the rest of the stay, Naruto found himself enjoying Shikamaru's company more and more. His lazy attitude reminded him a lot of a cat, not as noble or regal like Daichi was, but a cat none the less. Lazy as hell but just as smart too. Eating dinner with the Nara family was also fun, his mom was bossy towards her son and husband, who seemed just as lazy as Shikamaru, but was so peppy and kind towards him. As they were almost done with dinner by 7, and that's when Shikamaru asked the question that surprised everyone.

" Hey Mom, Dad. Is it alright if I spend the night over at Naruto's since we don't have school tomorrow? He's doing his own training, and it seems a lot more interesting then anything we're doing at school." he said casually.

Everything stopped. His mother looked shocked, and his dad looked like he was trying to calculate every possible outcome. His mother's shocked looked quickly turned into one of glee. " Oh that's just wonderful! Of course you can! If our all finished you can just head up and get your things packed, no need to worry about helping me clean up." she said excitedly.

" Thanks, come on Naruto." Shikamaru said as he left the table. The blonde quickly followed after.

One inside Shikamaru's room Naruto watched his friend with a critical gaze as he put some over night things into a green backpack. " Why?" was all he asked.

"Heh, well for one the academy's boring as hell. Second, it'll get my mom off my back for being lazy if I go to train with you. Lastly, I know a potential ally when I see one. You a hell of a lot more serious about being a ninja then the rest of us, except maybe Sasuke. I may be lazy, but I like to think ahead, I plan Naruto. I think getting on your good side may be worth the effort." he said bluntly.

Naruto was pleased with this answer, more then he let on. Shikamaru was honest with him, and Naruto could also see a lot of potential in his new friend. " Your a lot more devious and cunning then you let on. I like that. Alright then, but your going to buy Daichi some fish." the blonde said.

" Troublesome blonde. What kind of fish does your cat like?" Naruto smirked.


End file.
